It saddens me that I have to post this....but 3 strikes and....well here it is.

I will not name names, It's not my style. All 3 strikes were members here. (they have been somewhat scarce since the incidents)

I must caution all of you about members who claim to have to mail you cash, check, money order, etc because they "dont have a paypal account".

Anyone who is computer literate enough to organize a parts sale over the internet should have, or know someone who has, a paypal account. It protects the buyer and the seller. RED FLAG!

I have had 4 of these deals over the last 3 years. Except for 1, No funds ever showed up! I was cautious and did not plan on shipping until the funds arrived. Good thing or I would have been taken for over $150 in parts and shipping charges between the 3. Not to mention the time to pull, weigh, package, repackage, requote, weigh again....all the parts.

I'm not saying not to sell to cash customers....just protect yourself. A much as I think this is a great group, every basket has a bad apple or two.

Last edited by taz11 on Wed Nov 23, 2011 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!..........Out of somebody's garbage

I'm trying to get out of PWs.........That idea's not working out real well......

My time on MPW is limited these days. I'm trying to check in everyday.....please be patient when awaiting responses.

i don't have a paypal account, simply because i dont' trust it. i'm also the type of person who dont' have bank accounts or anything like that. i prefer cash through the mail and when i recieve cash, parts will ship that day or next. i have worked with a few people like that and everything went smooth. both parties were satisfied. Like Taz said, not everyone is a scam, but be careful.

You don't mean "actual" cash, right? Because sending actual cash in the mail is, hands down, the worst way to transfer money from one person to the another. What happens if the mail gets lost? What happens if they got the money but claim they never did? Can't prove anything, can you? You are SOL. Put a check/Money Order/Cashier's Check in that same envelope and you at least have a way to recover the funds or prove it was negotiated.

Sorry, working in the financial industry makes me a little sensitive in the payments arena. When customers tell me they don't trust online banking, I have to roll my eyes. Here at my bank, if you just have online banking and not bill pay, the absolute worst that can happen if someone hacked into your account (and since we launched online banking about 10 years ago, that has never happened) is they could transfer funds between your own accounts. Without bill pay, there is no way to get funds out of your account.

It might have been a good idea to hide your money under the mattress in 1937, but times have changed dramatically.

Six years ago, I made a purchase for Christmas using my paypal account. A spam email showed up in the inbox a few hours later and my wife responded. She re-entered our paypal information, account information and confirmed our email (all of which Paypal will never ask you to do) and sent the email. Within 24 hours, I was about to be 1700 upside down with the bank. Scared to death, I called the bank. Did I mention that it was 7 days before Christmas? The bank was very helpful and so was Paypal. I got my money back in about 4 days. It took about 600 hours for me to fix my idenitity theft issue. With all the personal hardship I had been through, I learned everything I could about ID Fraud. I taught classes to other police and the community and still do when requested. With that said, even though I almost had the most miserable Christmas of my life, I use Paypal to this day. Alot has changed in the world of ID Theft since then but the industry has changed too. I understand your concern 1333. I do. I can tell you though that if you make transactions online as you would blindfolded on the street with a complete stranger, you will be fine. Not trying to tell you how to run your business at all. I would, however, rather make a transaction through Paypal any day of the week than I had to make the same purchase directly from a retailer. Paypal offers a blind transaction that wont allow another person to see your account information. There is no way in the world that I would ever send a personal check to anyone in the mail that I didnt know or wasnt a company. I have worked hundreds of cases where a person would take the account and routing number from an account and steal it blind. Sorry for thread jacking Taz. Just wanted to get that out.

I agree with only using PayPal... I would think its much less risky than sending cash or a personal check... I've used PayPal for over 10 years and have no issues., and I know most banks will set you up an Internet account for free.. It's an account that is just tied to PayPal so you only transfer in what you need.

That being said, rule #1-100 infinity, is no financial institution, eBay, PayPal, no reputable business will EVER send you an email link telling you to log into your acct... 100% of those are scammers.

well imust still be the only idiot, but i refuse to use paypal or anything. i'm sorry but that's how i am and that's how i will always be. i have worked with several people through the mail and i don't lie. when i receive the money, i ship. it's not that hard. people who scam this way are so stupid. all it takes is 1 bad transaction and everyone know's about it. and i'm nothing like that. i know no one called me specifically out on anything but i am just saying. everyone i have dealt with has understood so far, and everything went smoothly. not all people who don't use paypal aren't "bad" some just don't like it